Shatter Effect
by Inkling39
Summary: Being hunted down by a force that may just beyond them, the Titans have been separated. A young alien princess finds herself with no choice than to except the help of a thief who had disappeared long ago. (Set two years since Tokyo) *Revived! Chapter 10 up!*
1. Chapter 1

_My First Teen Titans FanFic! Enjoy :) _

_I was re-watching some of the episodes and forgot how dark and awesome that show could be. It's one of the best of my childhood. Just note that I am a fan of both Robin/Starfire and Red X/ Starfire, I just find that good stories about the latter are scarse so I thought I would add one. Be sure to read the note at the end. _

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><p><em>Flash!<em>

He opened his eyes to see a grey sky and water droplets falling upon his torn up body.

_What the hell happened?_

His mind tried to wrap its way around his surroundings. His vision was at first blurry, but slowly found a focus. The rain fell harder making a sizzling sound once it touched the earth, even his body was creating steam in the cold rain. He could see black smoke rising into the grey sky, making quite a gloomy picture.

After a few minutes of shallow breathing and wincing at the sky he slowly turned his head to the side to see the black mess of debris that surrounded him. He could see small fires illuminating this messed up place, slowly being put out by the rain.

_There must have been a bomb… no shit… I was at a warehouse, the Titans… the explosion. _

His mind regained the ability to function as he began to remember all that had happened.

He sat up slowly, feeling a pain in his head, he glanced down at his body, he had cuts on his arm and his shoulder was scrapped up. The suit was still of course in tact, but he could see blood oozing through the black material.

_Come on stand up…you've been though worse…_

He slowly got to his feet, unsure if he could bare his own weight. He stumbled for a minute before he found his footing and breathed deep. He brought the tattered cape around his shoulders to shield him from the rain.

_I wonder if they lived… _He thought to himself, thinking of the Titans.

As he was about to start walking toward his next destination a burst of red caught his eye in the blur of grey that surrounded him. He glanced behind him only to freeze up completely.

For a moment, he could only stare in shock at the sight of the lovely girl who was sprawled upon the ground, half her body covered in debris.

Finally, his composure returned to him as he stumbled over to her and fell at his knees beside her. He removed one of his grey gloves and took her wrist into his hand. He felt his throat dry up as he waited for a sign of life.

_Come on… give me something..._

After a second more he felt it, a small pulse; giving him the ability to exhale. Without much thought he hurried to recover her from the debris and took her limp body into his arms.

He wasn't sure what his next move was, but he did know that something was terribly wrong.

…

A young hero awoke to a drop of water from a sink faucet. He panicked for a moment at his surroundings, till he remembered he was not home in the tower, but in a dank apartment building.

He was there because he was being hunted.

…

The thief watched the unconscious form of the young girl upon his bed, thoughtfully. She lay silently, her breathing shallow. Her wounds were now bandaged, and the caked blood washed away. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now, so he decided on watching her carefully until she awoke.

He wondered if the others had survived, who had planted the bomb in the first place, and how he managed to get caught up in the middle of it.

The girl stirred for a moment, making his heart skip a beat before she settled into stillness once more. It had been a good two years or so since he last saw her; her hair had grown out and it looked like she had matured lightly, but aside from that she was the same as he remembered. Still beautiful.

…

Starfire found herself staring at a dark ceiling in a room that was terribly unfamiliar. For a terrifying minute, she couldn't remember or feel anything; her conscience was as black and void-less as the ceiling seemed. Then instantly, she felt dizzy and an there was an ache throughout her body as all her memories flooded back… _The warehouse… a thief running away… Her team in pursuit… the explosion. _

"No!" she yelled, springing upward, thinking of her team, thinking of Robin.

She immediately regretted her action as she felt a wave of pain in her head. She dug a hand beneath her abundant auburn hair to feel for wounds, but all that was there was a large bump. Examining the rest of her person, she noticed bandages wrapped around what she guessed were cuts and bruises. Who had done this…?

"You might want to take it easy there." a new raspy, but yet vaguely familiar voice spoke up.

She felt her heart jump as she turned to the owner, standing in the doorway arms crossed.

"You!" she exclaimed when she was able to identify him.

"Me." he agreed.

She raised herself to her feet, positioning herself in a fighting stance.

"I said easy, I'm not going to fight you." he said moving away from his perch.

"What did you do to the other Titans?" she demanded.

"Less than nothing, sweetheart, you've got nothing to worry about." he replied, his voice smoother per the norm, putting his hands up in surrender.

"How can I believe that?" she asked harshly, activating her star bolts as he attempted to approach her. "You are a criminal."

"It would kind of be waste of my time to save you if I had plotted the explosion, am I right?"

She frowned.

"My guess is someone's targeting your team; trying to terminate you, in the worse sense of the word, but no worries its not me." he said.

"Then if that is the case, why are you helping me?" she asked, ignoring his theory.

He looked taken aback for a moment, but regained composure so completely that she thought she had imagined it.

"You were bleeding under a pile of rubble, I may be on the wrong side of your fence and all, but I'm not just going to let someone die." he replied. "

"No... I suppose not." she said quietly almost to herself, recalling how he saved the team before… How he saved her.

Feeling flushed and the anxious urge to fly free, she stood up, the dizzy feeling not effecting her as much as before. "I offer you thanks, but I need to get to the tower, I need to find my team."

"You're wasting your time, the place is trashed and abandoned." he said coolly.

"What?!" she froze in her steps toward the window.

"I did a little investigating. The place was broken into and thoroughly searched. You're teammates haven't been seen or heard by anyone for nearly twenty-four hours." he went on.

"No..." she began, but had nothing to say due to the sinking feeling in her heart. Her unbridled emotions made her angry the next moment. "That is a lie."

"See for yourself, t.v. is down the hall, or better yet look out the window."

The princess moved to look out the tinted glass; she could see the docks and Titan's tower, but ultimately she could see the crashed windows and the smoke rising from it. The streets bellow were filled with police cars and the sound of sirens were echoing in the distance.

She let out a shocked gasp and backed away from the window, hand over her chest in shock. "Oh, no no no..."

"Easy…" the thief repeated, advancing again.

She exhaled quickly as she felt his slight touch on her shoulder; moving away as if she had been burned.

"I have to find them!" she exclaimed, turning back to the window.

"Wait, whoever did this is probably looking for you." he said, firmly grasping her arm to stop her. "They are trying to get you in the open."

Her eyes flared up at him as she pulled away. "I don't care, I cannot stay back and…"

She was cut of by a blast through the window and the shattering of millions of pieces of dark glass. She cried out in surprise as the swift black figure pushed her out of the way.

They both fell with a thud on the floor, omitting a sound similar to "Ooof." The thief smirked at their close proximity.

"That was close, huh?" he asked coyly, before quickly getting to his feet to face the threat.

A figure, dressed entirely in black, moved through the window, a giant bazooka strapped across it's back.

"Wow..." Red X whistled. "Now that is coming to work prepared."

The villain pulled down his hood to reveal a bald middle aged man, a scar on his bottom lip. He was smiling menacingly.

"Yikes..." the thief scowled beneath his mask. "You should of kept that up."

Before the thug could respond, Red X leapt up and placed a scarlet detonator on the large angular weapon. The thug launched it quickly at the wall as it exploded and took out two more guns from his side. The room shook uncontrollably, the entire east wall of the apartment nothing but smoke and dust and the outside world.

"Look, I have no business with you, I am just here for her." the thug said casually, with a thick Russian accent, motioning towards Starfire with his large hands.

"Yeah, well good luck with that." Red X replied, his x blades extending from his gloves. "Because, she's my business at the moment."

The villain took a few shots before a blast of green energy knocked a gun from his hand. "Who are you and what do you want from me?" Starfire growled, levitating above the ground.

"Nothing, just your pretty little head." the thug smiled wickedly as he took a few more shots. The two unlikely allies dodged the shots quickly, leaping out of his line of fire.

When there was a pause in his firing, Starfire angrily lunged at the tall man, throwing a fist at his abdomen that sent him hurling into the surviving north wall.

"Who are you what have you done to my friends!?" she exclaimed, her eyes alive with green flames.

"I'm not talking." he said aggressively, but unconvincingly. "You can't make me."

"May want to listen to her pops." Red X hummed in the background, clearly amused.

Starfire, agitated by both men, slammed the Russian much harder into the wall, before she took a glowing fist and crushed it into the space just above his head.

"You will tell me, what have you done with my friends?!"

"I don't know anything, I was just hired to find and kill you." he stuttered, becoming concerned for his life.

"Who has hired you to do such a horrible thing!?" she exclaimed.

"I don't know, I never saw him, he never told me his name."

Sirens could be heard in the distance. Starfire let the thug slip to the ground. With his broken ribs, he would most likely not be going anywhere.

"But, know this... there are more of me... more than you can imagine." he wheezed pathetically on the floor.

"I think it's time we vacated the area sweetheart." Red X interrupted grabbing her arm.

"I…" another explosion erupted, interrupting her.

"No time." he pulled her along by the wrist, before jumping from the perch that was all that remained from the wall.

Landing on the lower roof, both of them spotted several police vehicles pour into the area.

"Oh yeah, defiantly time to go." the thief quipped, pulling the alien girl toward an ally.

"Let me go!" she stated, starting to pull away.

"Look, you'll thank me for this…"

He was cut off as a few bullets barely missed them. Starfire glanced up to see a dark haired woman, wearing a suit of black armor, firing a sniper rifle.

"Where did she come from?"

Red X pulled her behind a building before firing several of his scarlet weapons toward the approaching attacker.

"Stay low." he ordered.

The sniper fired several more shots before Red X finally caught her in one of his x traps that wrapped around her arms like a restraint.

"You're popular today." he said, looking back at Starfire.

The girl was too overwhelmed to reply.

"C'mon," he said, pulling her along once more.

She had no idea why she was allowing herself to be dragged along by some cocky, arrogant criminal who had caused more harm than good; but the idea of facing these enemies alone with her wounds seemed far more unwise an option.

He finally stopped in an ally near the center of town. "Catch your breath, sweetheart."

Starfire frowned, pulling her wrist from his hold. "I'm fine."

She walked over to peer behind the building, too afraid to step out in plain sight. "I have not ever seen either of those attackers before."

"No connections at all?" he asked crossing his arms, seeming half interested in the inquiry. "No threats or anything before this all happened?"

She paused to think, searching the busy streets and her mind for answers. There were none.

"No, nothing." she replied.

She gasped as she saw another dark armored person in the crowd. A tall, lean man with blonde hair, searching the streets. There was no doubt about it, she was being hunted like Red X had said.

She moved back into the shadows. "I cannot stay here, I cannot go to the tower, I cannot lead these people to any of my allies if they have not been attacked already… I don't know what to do!" she said quietly, her head spinning.

"Easy, you're giving me a headache." The criminal said, his voice calm. He glanced over to see the man searching the crowd. "I'm taking you somewhere safe."

She noticed he was standing far too close for her liking and backed away.

"Aw, cutie why so shy?" he asked catching her chin in his hand, bringing back recollections of their first meeting.

She slapped his hand away, backing up even farther. "Do not attempt past offences, please."

"Oh so you do think about that." he said, clearly amused.

She frowned again. "I need to get away from here, now. What is this safe place of which you speak?"

He moved closer to her again, this time leaning directly in front of her face. "It's all under control princess."

He then sprinted into the shadows. "Follow me."

Though hesitant, she found she had no choice but to obey.

She followed him past the docks to the far west, almost past the limits of the city. The day had disappeared and it was twilight on the ocean.

Starfire became uneasy. "I do not wish to leave the city, not until I have found my team."

"Good, I am not taking you out of the city." he said.

She stared at his tall figure from behind as he continued to walk ahead, glancing back to look at her once in a while. She greatly wondered who he was and why it was he was helping her. As odd and unnerving as it was, everything physically about him reminded her of Robin. From his lean figure,to his fighting style, to his raspy voice, he seemed to be made to fit that suit. He and Robin almost matched perfectly, though the theif was slightly taller and had a more defined physic. She guessed it was because he was slightly older, but not much.

On the other hand, his manners were significantly different than the boy wonder. He was openly cocky and arrogant, enjoying the thrill of the fight more than the fight itself, where Robin was focused and dedicated to a fault on serving justice. The thief enjoyed himself more than Robin would ever allow himself to, never seeming to take anything seriously in anyway, not even loss or defeat.

"Always so quiet?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"I suppose I have nothing to say." she replied.

"You could tell me about yourself." he said flirtatiously.

She turned away. "That probably would not be wise of me."

"Probably." he droned sarcastically. "I can be very dangerous on occasion, you shouldn't trust me."

"I know nothing about you, why should I share anything? I will be the one at a disadvantage!" she snapped. She never was fustrated like this with anyone before, it felt strange, and he enjoyed making her this way. It was like nothing she had come in contact before.

"_No one_ knows anything about me, that's the way I want it; and let me tell you." He glanced back at her, meeting her emerald eyes. "I usually get what I want."

She tried to be defiant and lifted her nose at such an arrogant protest.

He then stopped in front of a dark street corner at the edge of town, it looked like a place the Black Market made deals.

"What is this place?" she asked. "It is quite gloomy."

"Yeah, its not much, but no high-class villain will think you know where this place is." he said.

He walked into a abandoned hotel-like building, and she followed behind, feeling more and more unnerved. "I stay here from time to time when I'm in this part of town, or when I am in town at all. Let's keep that between you and me, on regards to me helping you."

"That would all depend on whether you are committing a criminal act or not." she replied as he lit a small lamp to light the room slightly.

"Well, you can always come after me, I wouldn't mind that."

"You should, I am a Titan you are a criminal…"

"Yet here we are." he said, cocky as ever.

"We are here because of dire circumstances only." she said, almost challenging him. "Nothing more."

"Keep telling yourself that." he smirked, turning away from her and looking at a communicator he had on his arm.

Tired from walking and running, and not being used to doing so, she plopped down on the sofa in center of the room. She now could feel all the aches from her wounds.

_Robin… Where are you? _she thought, worry grasping at her heart, making it hard to breath. Raven, Beastboy, Cyborg… how she wished to know they were safe. She tried fighting her exhaustion and began picking her brain for answers, alas it was a short-lived attempt.

The thief listened in on police scanners and everything he could to get word of the Titans and the new criminals that hunted them. The police had apprehended the Russian he and Starfire had fought at his apartment, and they were still in pursuit of the woman and blonde man. However, there was nothing more on the Titans. He turned back to the one he was harboring to see her asleep on the sofa behind him.

He sighed and felt his heart melt a little bit at the sight of her. He walked up and moved a few strands of hair out of her face. "I think you're going to be a problem for me, cutie." he said quietly.

…

In the shadows the hero moved around. There had been a fight in this part of town and shots were fired further down. He wasn't the only one being hunted, his whole team was. If any of them were alive.

…

* * *

><p>I really enjoy but have trouble writing Red X, I mean he is such a flawless character, I don't want to ruin him. Anyway, he will eventually have a backstory, remotley based on the batmanteen titans comics, but I will be changing some stuff around. I won't say anything now, cause I don't want to give anything away (I'm sure all comic book fans have it figured out) but I just want to say I know the original stories centered around Robin and Batman, I'm just changing it for my story, just to let yall know.

Disclaimer:It's all DC and what not that owns this.

Thanks for reading. A couple reviews wouldn't hurt.


	2. Chapter 2

Go Giants!

Haha and here is chapter 2 for your enjoyment...

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><p>Shatter Effect<p>

Chapter Two-

She awoke with a start to the sound of crashing thunder, and panicked at first because she had no idea where she was. Her memory came around a few moments later, however she remembered falling asleep in a sofa, not a bed.

She tried her best not to dwell on that too much and looked about the room to see if something could tell her the time. She usually had her communicator to depend on that, but of course, now she did not. Luckily, there was a small blinking alarm clock in the corner that flashed 4:00 am.

She sighed and laid back down. Outside it was pouring rain, flashing lightning, and roaring thunder, things that made her uncomfortable at night. It would usually send her fleeing out of her soft bed to find comfort in strong warm arms that were happy to receive her.

Blinking away tears, she tried not to think of Robin. She had to believe he was alright, that he was out there looking for her. In the meantime, she had to think of plan, a plan to locate the others while remain hidden herself. Something she was unsure she could do.

In a few moments the alien princess was soon able to fall back to sleep with a heavy mind, unaware of the biased shadow that had been looming nearby, noticing how frightened she was of the storm outside.

…

A lithe, pale young woman never felt so helpless as she sat on the stone cold floor of a basement, holding her unconscious comrade in her arms. She slowly attempted healing him, but to be honest, she couldn't keep her emotions at bay long enough to do it properly. The boy with the ivy skin's breathing was shallow and fading. She knew she needed help, but as weak as she was herself after the explosion, she didn't dare face the enemies outside. She forced back tears…

"Raven…" she heard him mutter and looked down at him, but snapped her head back up as she heard footprints above their hiding place.

"Shut up." was all she could reply. "Its okay."

…

The next morning the thief did not find the lovely girl asleep on the bed, but staring out the cracks of the boarded window in her room.

"Morning sunshine." he greeted lowly. "Sleep well?"

"I did not, how could I?" she said shortly, not even turning to look at him.

"Aw, did the storm scare you?" he asked with mock concern. "And, your boyfriend's not here so…"

That defiantly struck a cord.

She spun around and glared at him, trying to keep her rage in line, knowing that smashing him through the wall would draw attention to herself.

"Sorry, did I say something?" he asked. There was that smirk again, she knew it even though she could not see it.

"Don't talk of him." she said evenly. "Robin would be here if he could."

"Well now that were on the topic, how is the boy wonder?"

She turned away from him, back out the window crossing her arms. He moved closer behind her.

"What? Are you two really a thing now?"

She stiffened and he could see red creep up on the back of her neck.

"Well," he said, his voice enlightened. "Isn't that adorable, tell me is he still massively obsessive and serious, because that would get really irritating in a relationship I would think."

She turned around to strike him, her emotions running wild on her, but he caught her wrist mid air, leaving her staring into the emotionless mask.

"Take it easy." he told her, he could see that her eyes were red from crying. There were two seconds. a loaded two seconds that passed before she pulled her hand away.

"You…" she was at a loss for words. "You…"

"Me… me… me…" he droned. "I know it's hard, but you'll just have to try to stop thinking about me."

She frowned at such a concept. "_You_ don not know anything about him… nothing, so don't you dare…"

"Dare what?" he asked.

She just couldn't handle him anymore and began to storm out of the room. He grabbed her upper arm, yet again, bringing her back in front of him.

"Hey, hey, truce okay?" he said smoothly. "I get it, he's taboo."

Too tired and frustrated to reply, she settled with crossing her arms with a huff. "You enjoy my irritation."

"Guilty." he replied.

"If you wish to help me, why torment me so?"

"You're really cute when you're mad."

…

Wearing a dark jacket and shades, the young man looked more like a shady pickpocket than a hero. He walked down the street, looking around the city. The civilians were frightened, the police were everywhere and it everything just seemed grey.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned with his hand on the pistol in his pocket… a uncivilized weapon for an uncivilized time.

"Need a hand?" a familiar face asked.

"What are you doing here!?" he exclaimed, when he recognized the stranger.

"Keep it down, get in the car." The tall, muscular man commented, holding open the door of his black lexis.

Once safe in the car, the younger man took off his shades, looking angry. "I told you not to get involved with me here."

"Well, I think this is a bit of an exception. It's good to see you too, by the way… it's been what five years?" the man replied.

"I have it handled." the hero replied.

"I could tell. But, you've always had it handled haven't you? When a psychopath was controlling the city, when your team was all over the planet, slowly being knocked off one by one…" the wealthy man droned.

"And yet it's all still right as rain." the youth mouthed off. "Didn't see you around those times, why show up now?"

"Maybe I've had it with having to watch the news and only hope that you can _handle _it without killing yourself, because of what ever anger issues you're harboring towards me." his old mentor countered. "Thanks for all the warehouses you've damaged over the years, by the way."

"This is _my _life, this is _my _city, it's my friends who are either dead or alive, because _I _can't lead them." he rubbed his eyes violently, feeling angry tears welling in his eyes.

"Dick…"

"Don't okay, I am not like you, I can't shut them out because I am supposed to be a hero, I can't passively ignore that I may have lost all of them, because I need to be in control… I thought I had to be that way, but I don't… I don't… my whole life you taught me that justice is all there is to life, and it's not, there is more."

It was quiet for a moment. The boy put back on his shades and stared out the window.

"She taught you that didn't she?"

His adopted son looked at him pitifully, surprised, but not really, that he knew about such things.

"I don't know what'll do if she's…"

"Don't think about that." the man interrupted. "We need to find out who's doing this first, before any assumptions can be made, what do you know about the attackers?"

"Russian." the boy wonder replied, getting back into his element. "I've only seen one, but I know they've been on my tail since yesterday."

"Are they hunting Robin or Dick Grayson?" the billionaire asked.

"I'm _only _Robin here, ."

"Well, take a vacation… Alfred, take us around the city, were staying at my suite uptown."

"Of course, master Bruce."

…

"The way I see it," the thief said carelessly, taking a seat at the table across the room from the lovely alien who kept staring out the cracks of the window, longing for freedom. She was like a bird in a cage. "You have two options, sweetheart."

She kept her back to him.

"You can wait the attack out here, or…"

"You are wrong, there is only one option, I must leave here and find my friends." she snapped.

"I was going to say, you had to find them without getting killed yourself, which I have to say is going to be pretty difficult."

"That doesn't matter to me." she replied.

"Well sweetheart, you're no good to anyone dead, so why don't you listen to my advise." he told her, placing his hands behind his head.

She turned to look around at him, glaring at him.

"That's a good girl," he chided.

She lifted up her fist at the comment, letting it become engulfed in a green flame.

"Ah, ah, ah…" he mocked, waving his finger.

She growled slightly, but lowered her hand and crossed her arms.

"If you really want to find them, you're going to have to use stealth." he told her. "That means no flying, no round, green, blast things, no lifting things that weigh more than you… nothing."

"But then…"

"Look, if we measly humans can do it, so can you, that's the only way to go about this and not get caught." he finished.

She looked unsure, but nodded in agreement.

"Alright then, there's a jacket in that coat closet, it'll have to do for now; make sure you put the hood on. "

"Why?"

"I think I've picked up a signal from one of your communicators, if we leave now, we might catch up to it." he replied.

Her face suddenly lit up, instantly pleasing him as she began to levitate.

"No flying." he said.

She fell back to her feet and ran toward the closet.

He frowned as she passed however, secretly hoping the signal was false.

…

The jacket made her look bigger and had a large hood to put over her hair, hopefully no one would recognize her. She walked behind Red X, noticing the menacing eyes of thugs on the street, smoking around barrels and making deals through windows. This place really was a swarm of crime and made her shutter. What would Robin think if he saw her here?

She saw a few eyes dart at her and gasped.

"They just want to intimidate you cutie, don't let them get to you." X murmured as he eyed all of them. They all knew of him and feared him just as much. Thugs new that any super-powered, or high tech-criminals were not to be messed with. Well, most of them.

"Hey Red, you owe me money." said a man wearing a black leather jacket and a cigarette in his mouth. X ignored him and kept walking. "Life's a bitch Bromy, get used to it." he replied dryly.

Starfire found herself walking up beside the arrogant thief when she saw a knife emerge from his belt. "He's following." she muttered.

"Fun." Red X murmured, smirking. "Just stay out of it."

He turned around to face Bromy. "Really Brom, a knife?"

"It's been two months Red, I need that money."

"For what now?" the thief asked. "Illegal substances, or are you lonely?"

"Not all of us have freak show suits like you to depend on." Bromy answered.

"Look Brom, if you really feel like getting thrashed, then go ahead and me give your best shot."

Bromy's eyes ended up on falling on Starfire, who quickly looked away. "Since when do you have a partner?"

"She's more of an admirer really." the thief replied, only sweating slightly.

"Looks familiar…" Bromy said thoughtfully, blowing a cloud of smoke into the air, "like a girl on TV…"

"Look, bud, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have a bit of a schedule today and…"

"Like one of them Teen Titans." said Brom pulling out a pistol and pointing it at Red X. "They're wanted on the black market you know, Red."

Starfire gasped and backed away.

"Well Brom, there's what five of 'em? Go get your own." the thief replied carelessly.

"Well maybe if I get my money, I won't spread the news that you have one." Bromy said. "I might be able to forget about it."

He looked over at the alien who was debating whether or not to attack. "Maybe she could help change my mind too, huh babe?"

"Hmm… Nah." the thief replied moving swiftly, knocking the pistol out of the guys hand and thrusting him against the wall. "See anything interesting today, Brom?" he asked, extending an X shaped knife from his wrist, and pointing it at him.

"N…no." he replied.

"Did I owe you money or something?"

"N…no."

"Good boy, now run along, and go ahead and make my day by telling anyone you saw her, or me, got it?"

Brom nodded as he was lowered down and scrambled away.

The thief looked over at Starfire who was staring at him wide eyed.

"It's rude to stare Princess." he told her_. _

* * *

><p>I still feel I'm lacking with Red X, but I'll just keeping watching the two episodes he's in until I get into his head... Anyway... BBRae, I think yes! A little RobStar, I can't help it... RedStar, FTW... Alfred FTW and BATMAN... nuff said. Hope you like it! Please, please review. I need more feedback on this story before I continue! Thanks!<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry its been so long... and that it's so short... been trying to find away to develope the story with pace, but I think I'm just going to dive into the big stuff next chapter... sound good. Enjoy this... eh okay chapter.

* * *

><p>Shatter Effect-<p>

Chapter Three

Alfred carried a tray of coffee on a silver platter into the sitting room, his face stoic as usual. Robin sat on the couch, in a style he had picked up from his former mentor; elbows on knees, hands folded together, his chin resting on his hands, looking deep in thought as he stared at the laptop computer in front of them.

"Here you are, Master Grayson." he said politely as ever, setting the tray down beside him, without so much of a clank. "Hopefully this will help those bags under your eyes."

"Thanks." he said, not even really paying attention to him.

"If I may sir, I would not lose all hope just yet, your team has always seemed to be able to make it through, no matter what the circumstance." he said kindly, not sure how much it would help, but it would go against his nature not to give a young hero some passing advice.

"If they're alive." he mumbled quietly. "I suspected something, Alfred, I tried to figure it out on my own and I put them in danger."

"So, you made a mistake… Deal with it." Bruce interrupted, bringing his usual brooding presence into the room. "I've located a signal of one of your communicators downtown near the slum, it's faint, but it's our only lead."

"Was their an identity on it."

"There was a brief encryption… CY10002."

…

"Why hasn't anyone found us yet?" The green skinned boy asked. His breathing was still quite shallow.

"Well, it's more likely more trouble will find us than anything else." the pale psychic replied. She sat a few feet away, her dark blue cloak wrapped around her. "How are you feeling?"

"Well, I'm not dead… so that's a plus." he said; his joke, per usual, not making her laugh. "I would feel a lot better if you weren't acting like I had the plague though."

"I have spent the last 36 hours pouring my energy into keeping you alive... I want some space." she said coldly, justifying her distance from him.

"...I'm sorry." he said genuinely, he sounded so broken.

She looked over at him, her face softened. "You don't need to apologize… I just." she stopped and looked away again. Yes, she needed space to regain her energy, but it was more than that. She had thought for one horrible moment that he wouldn't make it through the previous night. Still recovering herself, and fighting off two assassins the previous evening, she almost panicked that she did not have the strength to keep the green boy alive.

She had been afraid, angry and even cried. It was terrifying how much he made her feel.

"I just… you just worried me last night." she finished.

They met each other's gaze and there was a long silent moment before they looked away again.

"Thanks Raven." he said quietly.

"I hope the others are alright." she said quietly. "Robin and Starfire were in the warehouse…"

"They're probably hiding out… just like us." Beastboy replied, his voice was still shallow, but he sounded determined. "And so is Cyborg, he was outside with me and you beforehand… I remember."

Raven looked doubtful and her lips quivered slightly.

"They are all alright Raven… I know it."

…

"What is it?" Starfire asked the thief who had stopped dead in his tracks. He was looking at the computer on his wrist.

"The signals failing…" he replied. "That's tragic."

He saw her face fall in the corner of his masked eyes and tried to ignore it.

Before she could reply, a grey van rolled by on the road. They both moved quickly out of sight. The van parked and too more thugs stepped out, one wearing armor and the other not.

"God, these guys don't quit do they?" Red X said, annoyance in his voice.

A third came out of the driver's seat. He was tall, well built, with copper hair and looked in his mid-twenties.

"I've seen him before." the thief said quietly, though he could not remember there.

"You have!?." she exclaimed.

"Search everywhere, leave no stone un-turned." the copper-haired man told the others. "You find any of them, kill them on the spot."

Starfire flinched.

The other two nodded and headed off into the opposite direction. The third looked at his communicator as it beeped.

"What is it?" he asked.

_"Zorb, I have confirmed the presence of Netopiere01 within the city,"_ a voice replied.

"Very good, find any of them yet?" he asked.

"No sir, I lost communication with both Flashknik and Kandle last night, they were on the trail of one of them."

"Well, find their last coordinates, this game of cat and mouse grows on my nerves." the copper-haired man ordered by switching off the phone.

"He's alone, we should take him." Starfire whispered to the thief urgently. He seemed to be pulling the strings, or at the very least, would lead them to who it was.

"Mm… I don't know cutie, there's a reason why the others are listening to him… I'm not sure I wanna find out why the hard way." Red X replied, his voice still calm, but not so care-free.

"He'll have information." she said defiantly.

"Yeah, and if we're not careful, he'll have your dead body as well." the thief said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Fine, don't help me."

Before he could wrap around what she had said, she flew past him before he could stop her and hurled large balls of green energy at the quite surprised criminal. However instead of falling to the ground the copper-haired man smiled and absorbed the starbolt she had assaulted him between his two hands, so it almost looked as if it became apart of him.

Starfire froze in surprise.

"Well, my dear, I've been looking for you all day." he said as he backfired her starbolts toward her. She flew out the way, staying high above him. "Why don't you come down closer since you are so brave to face me?"

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Well, I'm just like all my other friends you've met, though I'm a bit higher ranking, I've been commissioned to manage the task of killing you and the other titans." he said to her, the energy from the starbolts expanding within him as he hurled another.

She avoided the first few shots and fired a few of her own, but they only gave him more power. He could absorb all her energy and expand it to a higher quantiity. Before she could move he fired another shot at her that sent her spiraling to the ground.

As she stumbled to her feet, he walked over and grabbed both her upper arms, sending a surge of pain throughout her body. She screamed in agony.

"I don't only absorb energy from your powers, I also can absorb your life energy." he said cynically.

Suddenly a small scarlet x flew between them, blowing up on Zorb, sending him hurling in the opposite direction of the alien princess.

"You know bud, I think I've come across you before, you can suck up just about anything… except technology." Red X commented, arrogantly as he stood in-between Zorb and Starfire.

The criminal looked and saw the thief holding a handful of red crosses, ready to be fired in his direction.

"You may have no abilities, but all I need is to get my hands on you in order to take the energy from your pathetic life."

"Good luck with that." the thief scoffed.

Zorb used the left over energy from Starfire's starbolts to attack the smug rebel, who easily got out of the way by flipping to a second story overlook.

"So, what's on your schedule? Be the big bad guy, kill the titan's, take over the city?" the thief asked him with a care-free manor. "Honestly, I don't know how you guys do it, I got better things to do."

"Actually, I am keeping it casual for this round, just a paycheck." Zorb told him, his eyes were glowing green like Starfire's when she was in touch with her powers. "How about you? Since when are you on the heroes' side."

"When I feel like it." the thief threw a round red detonator to the ground making a smoke cloud. When it cleared, both he and Starfire had vanished.

…

Starfire bolted awake a few minutes later, she was on a roof somewhere, she could see her… _ally_ standing a few feet away looking over the city. She could picture the deep, quizzical look behind his mask.

"I hate to say I told you so." he said, sounding bored.

"...You saved me." she said, her tone was hard for him to read.

"Third times the charm." he replied. "For being such a good girl, you sure attract trouble. I'm beginning to wonder what you did without me,"

She looked down, angry she had been foolish and even more so that he had once again saved her life. She knew she had to say it, but almost didn't want to give him the pleasure.

"No need to thank me," he said, reading her thoughts. "I'm actually enjoying myself."

She frowned looking up at him. "All the same, thank you…"

He turned his head to her and nodded. "Letting your walls come down a little?"

"It's not easy for me to trust you... you wear a mask." she replied, coming to stand beside him looking out into the city, her arms folded around her awkwardly.

"Huh… must be rough dating the boy wonder then." he replied.

"His mask doesn't hide who he is." she said, her gaze meeting his. "Not like you."

"Nice try kid." he said. "But, I like being the mystery no one can figure out, it's part of the charm."

"What charm?" she asked, somewhere between coy and naive.

"You tell me." he said, tilting her head up to look at him. Her face turned scarlet despite herself, and quickly pushed him away before looking for the exit to get off the roof.

"Face it, you have a thing for guys in masks." Red X told her as she marched away, flushed and upset.

…

* * *

><p>Uh... who doesn't? Well someone was reading this over told me Starfire's a little OOC and I am actually okay with that. I mean, I think I kept her true to herself, but she's in a different setting and around someone she is supposed to hate, so yeah. Also, I have her speaking better english and making her more adapted to earth because I honestly grew tired of the writers making her so dense all the time, no matter how much she had learned of earth. She needed more shining moments, so I am giving her some :)<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

_Hey all! I'm back... So for this chapter, I'm just warning you now... stuff is about to happen!_

* * *

><p>SHATTER EFFECT<p>

Chapter Four: Revealed

_"H…Hello?_" a deep voice crackled.

"Cyborg… its Robin, can you hear me?" the hero called into a communicator that was in Bruce's Porsche. The billionaire was speeding in the drivers seat beside him, trying to catch up with the signal before they lost it.

"ROB…" static brushed and crackled before it came through more clearly. "Robin! Is that you?!"

"Cyborg do you read me?!" Robin yelled at the top of his lungs. "I can't believe you're alive! We're trying to find you, but your signal is wavering."

_"Rob…in…I… have… to… get… under…ground…"_ his voice crackled.

"No don't do that, we'll lose you!"

_"We…? The… team… with… you?"_

"No," he couldn't hide his disappointment. "I have back up, look just tell me where you are, keep the signal connection."

_"I'm on the…run…ight…now, we'll… ave… meet somewhere."_ he could hear him say through his pants and the static of the communicator.

"Where are you?"

_"I think…am…near…Rend Ave… downtown ._"

"Look for the overly shiny black Porsche on 3rd St. which is about a block away." Robin replied, clicking around on the GPS to find his position.

_"Alright… got… black ops… behind me… now… see…"_ The signal was lost and there was only static singing to the young hero.

He clicked off. "Get all that?" he asked Bruce, who swerved dangerously around another car.

He nodded. "We'll be there in ten minutes."

It was silent for a few moments before the boy wonder heard the quiet whispering of breaking news on the radio. He cranked it up.

_"…City Hall has issued the city on Full Alert due to underground terrorism taking place since Thursday. Five bombings have occurred in different warehouses all over the city, nine people recorded missing and nearly six people found dead in street allies…"_

Robin clicked to another station.

_"Still no sign of any of the Teen Titans who are reported to have been terminated in one of the early bombings…"_

Again he clicked.

_"Investigators have discovered that a price has been put out on the black market for the head of any of the Titans, higher than ever before, however it is still unlikely if any have even survived after the attack on the Gale Enterprise warehouse… Whoever these terrorists are, they are focused on ensuring the death of the young heroes that have protected this city for nearly five years."_

He clicked again.

"Damn it Dick, turn it off." Bruce ordered, taking a sharp turn. "Things are bad, we don't need to hear it from the idiotic media."

"Five bombings, nine people missing and six dead…" he murmured quietly. "All in two days… what the hell is this?"

"It's the downside of the life you've chosen." Bruce told him. "Like it or not, you have to focus on keeping yourself alive and finding the others… I'm betting their trying to draw you out."

"People are dying… I can't."

"You won't be any good to anyone dead, especially your team, there is nothing you can do right now Dick."

Bruce told him.

He felt his fists clench…. _there is nothing you can do…_ the words hit him like a rock in the stomach.

Bruce pulled over to the side of the road when they reached 3rd Street, and they both could only wait for Cyborg to find them.

…

A cold wind blew through the streets and Starfire drew the large coat around her tighter. It was growing dark, and trailing the failing signal was now becoming hopeless.

"The communicator signal was here at Rend Ave… now its completely gone." the thief told her as he turned off the computer on his sleeve.

She was beyond depressed at this point and could feel her shoulders slump, and her heart grow weary of hoping and worrying. "You don't think its gone because they… they…"

"Can't really tell." he replied when she didn't finish. "Whoever had it could have just turned it off or went underground."

"But, that is unlikely." she spoke her thoughts quietly.

"Aren't you optimistic." he said sarcastically, turning to look at her.

His carefree, sarcastic attitude was not something she needed right now, so she only hugged herself and looked away.

"Hey." she heard him say, before feeling him touch her shoulder, making her flinch. She looked up at him, forcing back tears. "It's going to be okay princess."

Confused by his comfort and unsure how to react to it, she did the one thing she thought was right and backed away.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked him.

"Well, it seems you need a little pep talk." he said with a shrug.

"That's not what I meant… I can understand why you'd save me, but why are you still helping me?" she asked. "All I have been is trouble for you, fighting you every step of the way… there is absolutely nothing you can gain from this and now you're telling me that everything will be alright… why?" she asked.

"Maybe I like trouble." he said, his tone still sarcastic.

"Enough to harm yourself?" she asked, unsatisfied.

"Enough to help you, how's that?" he asked. "Look, why are you so confused by this?"

"Because you… you're not."

"Because I'm not the boy wonder or on your team, hell I am not even someone you can trust, I'm just the guy who stole your boyfriend's suit and you just can't figure out why I would risk my life for you, right."

He smiled lightly at the surprised look on her face. He nailed it.

"God, I must drive you crazy," he finished.

She frowned about to protest, but instead saw someone a few yards away and gasped. Before she could react or say anything, the figure pulled out a blaster and fired it, scraping the thief in the side.

He yelled in pain before hitting the ground, holding a hand over his wound. The shot had amazingly pierced the suit and also his skin. _Is that even possible?_ he thought. Starfire's eyes widened in shock and was immediately kneeling down beside him.

"Hey, guys over here, I think I found something." the man with the blaster yelled.

Starfire gasped as she saw a few men join their attacker and quickly tried to lift Red X from the ground. He grabbed her wrist sharply.

"Don't even try it, there is no time, get out of here now." he said, his voice sharp with pain.

She just stared at him in disbelief. "No…"

"Look, I'll be fine, they want you… just go!" he told her, his voice dangerously serious, as she had never heard it before.

However, the last thing he remembered was her pulling away from his grasp and charging toward the attackers, before he fell unconscious

…

Cyborg was in the back of the car in an instant. "Quickly!" he exclaimed. "I just heard gunfire behind me!"

Bruce pulled out quickly and took off back to the hotel, while Robin just stared at his team mate in relief and surprise.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Been better, boy it has never been so good to see you… I am nearly out of power and starving." he replied with a smile. "Nice look you got going on there man."

"Likewise." Robin replied. Cyborg was donning an outfit similar to the one he wore when he first met him.

Cyborg's eyes then turned toward the driver with curiosity.

"Cyborg, Bruce Wayne, Bruce Wayne, Cyborg." Robin introduced.

"_The_ Bruce Wayne, of Wayne Enterprises?" Cyborg asked surprised.

"No, the other Bruce Wayne." Bruce spoke up, his eyes focused on the road.

"Have you seen any of the others?" Robin asked eagerly, ignoring his mentor.

The half robot's face fell quickly. "No… after the explosion Raven, Beastboy and I were attacked by a number of those… trained assassins or whatever they were, I was separated from both of them. Beastboy had been hurt pretty bad… I got away, but they shutdown my system and disconnected all the communicators. I've been trying to fix it since yesterday and the only signal I got was yours and one I couldn't identify."

"Another signal?" Robin asked, exchanging a look with Bruce.

"I thought it must have been an enemy signal… what about you, heard anything from anyone? I thought the worse for you after the explosion."

"I wasn't in the building." he replied guiltily.

"But, I saw you and Starfire go in." Cyborg replied.

"We did, we split up, she went to the second floor and I left to search the docking bay. A few moments after I walked out the door, the whole building went up in flames. It blew me straight into the water, and with the storm and the waves… I should have drowned, but luckily a boat was coming in and pulled me aboard. By the time I got to the warehouse everyone was gone, and I could tell I was being hunted…" Robin replied, his head bowed in shame.

"Then Starfire…" Cyborg's voice became quiet.

"We don't know anything yet." Bruce interrupted. "So don't even make speculations… as soon as we get back to my place, were going to get to the bottom of this and until then both of you keep your head in the game."

…

It didn't take long to take out the thugs on her own, but escaping another van while carrying the unconscious thief when she had nowhere to go proved to be a challenge. Luckily, there was a storm cellar near a rundown subway and she was able to lock the doors on the inside.

There was a single light above and she was able to flick in on to see packages of supplies and tools and parts for the subway train. She sighed in relief, she lay the thief on the floor and immediately ran to look for any First Aid for his wound.

_Robin made the suit impenetrable… he couldn't even destroy it… _she thought as she hurriedly looked for something she could use. _What kind of weapon could penetrate it?_

She soon was able to find some gauze and ointment and returned to the side of the wounded masked man who was breathing only shallowly. The wound had scathed him like a burn in his rib cage and was now hardening around the open skin where it had been bleeding.

She flinched… she was never much for healing, not like Raven. However, she managed to treat his wound and bandage him without having too much trouble.

Her gaze then shifted over to his masked face and she studied it for a while… she was utterly tempted to simply reach her hand over and remove his mask, it would be so easy. Her mind went to war on the matter for a while. As a Titan, it was her job to find out who he was so he could never commit another crime… but really, could she call herself a Titan right now? Could she call herself a hero at all…? She was now just someone who needed saving… and he was the one who had saved her. She pulled her hand, that had been stretching out over him, back to herself.

No, she owed him… she couldn't do it.

_Who are you? _she thought to herself. Not a villain, not a hero… not her friend, not her enemy… a blank slate, a shadow, a silhouette. Still, there was a good person buried under his alias, arrogance and criminal activity. Someone who had more than once saved the day, but chose not to be a hero.

She wondered how he even knew about the Red X suit and knew that it was Robin who possessed it. More than that… she wondered how he managed to be smart enough to steal it. After a while, she gave up puzzling over him and turned away, deciding that it didn't matter.

…

He groaned as he slowly returned to consciousness, and became concerned as to where he was before he saw Starfire curled up nearby. She turned over to look at him, relief on her face.

It took him a few moments for everything to come back to him, but he finally gained his composure, and figured out what had taken place.

"My hero." he managed to say with a weak voice, as he began to sit up feeling the pain in his side.

"I am just returning the favor you have given me." she told him. "You shouldn't force yourself."

"I like that you worry." he said with a smirk. "However, I remember telling you to get out of harms way."

"It was never established that I had to listen to you." she replied, looking away. "Besides, I'm the hero, I at least have a reason to save you."

"Well, you still owe me twice sweetheart." he replied before groaning in pain, clutching his side. "Looks like this suit isn't as indestructible as your boyfriend made it out to be."

"You really shouldn't force yourself, that burn is serious." she told him, coming to his side and touching his shoulder in order to get him to lay back down.

He reached over and brushed a stray hair out of her face. "I don't think it was ever established that I had to listen to you either."

She felt the blood rush to her cheeks from his touch, and was glad that the room was dimly lit so he couldn't see. "It seems that they know you're assisting me, and that you are a target as well."

"Yeah… and they know what to use against my suit." he agreed, focusing back on his bandaged wound.

"What should we do?" she asked.

"Not a clue… I'll have to sleep on it." he replied.

It grew quiet before he turned to look at her. "So did you take advantage of me while I was out and take my mask off."

"I considered it." she replied honestly. "But, it seemed unfair to you."

"Yeah, well… if I am a target now, and this suit does nothing for me, then…"

She looked at him wide eyed when she realized what he was saying. They both met each others gaze for a long time and she realized he was about to trust her with everything.

He leaned closer to her and looked her directly in the eyes. "Care to do the honors?"

She stared at him for a full ten seconds in pure disbelief, before she, with trembling hands, began to lift up his mask.

* * *

><p><em>:O OKAY, that was probably the worst cliffhanger I ever wrote... sorry XD I almost thought it was too mean... Make sure you review! Reviews make me feel more apt to writing! <em>


	5. Chapter 5

Shatter Effect

Chapter 5:

"Raven!" the green skinned shape shifter yelled as he dodged another firing squad. The telepath appeared from a black portal within the wall and pulled her team mate through to safety.

"They were just waiting for us to come out in the open…" Beastboy panted, placing a hand over his chest. "We can't go back out there…"

"We can and we will," Raven countered in her usual tone. "Look we got this far, we just have to get to the docks and we'll be fine."

"I don't even get why were trying to get to the tower anyway… its probably surrounded by those black leather dudes, if its still standing at all."

"Because, if we can repair the main computer, we'll be able to find a signal from any of the communicators." Raven replied.

"And if we can't"

"We have to try." Raven replied. "Without the team…were useless…"

…

The thief watched her emerald eyes as she began to peal the black, sleek material of his mask- She looked terrified- Which in turn made him terrified and he almost backed away from her touch. However, he calmed himself down…_She doesn't know… I'm a stranger to her…. The mask doesn't make a difference… _Still, the feel of her fingers touching the skin of his neck was enough to make his breathing hitch slightly.

She pulled up ever so slowly, her mind racing with both excitement and uncertainty. The moment she felt his skin it was like an electric jolt, his skin was hot and he was sweating from the fight, his wound and, most likely, the restriction of the suit itself. She peeled up past his chin, lips… when she made it to his jaw she couldn't take the suspense any longer and swiftly pulled the mask off completely, allowing a mess of damp, shaggy, dark hair too fall about his exposed face…

"Hi." he said simply as she took him in with wide eyes and placed a hand over her mouth. His eyes, deep grey eyes, met hers and he smirked at her.

"Not quite what you dreamed about, huh?" he asked, his voice raspy like Robin's, but much deeper and matured.

_No. _she thought, but only stared at him. She wasn't sure what she had pictured, but he was… beautiful. She guessed he was about twenty or so… His face was strong and angular, his dark locks perfectly framed his features with his dark brows, and his eyes were like looking into a storm… however, though he was utterly appealing, what caught her attention was a paled jagged scar over his left eye, and another on the ridge of his neck. The only flaw his otherwise handsome face. He tilted his head away slightly, so that his scars were hidden by the shadows. Was he actually ashamed? She thought in surprise.

Her compassion and curiosity got the better of her as she leaned forward and reached her hand out toward his left eye. "What happened to you?" she asked.

He smiled at her genuine kindness, but gently grabbed her hand to stop her. "Had a little trouble with a crowbar." he answered.

The answer troubled her, and he could tell she was searching his eyes for answers. He gently rubbed her hand with his own. "Don't worry, it happened a long time ago."

"Someone attacked you?"

"One personal secret at a time sweetheart." he replied, releasing her hand and returning to his normality that she had known when he was behind the mask. "So…we'll have to stay here tonight, we'll head out first thing." he said running a hand through his messy hair. He winced in pain from moving too much and repositioned himself.

"You won't be in any state to leave tomorrow." she said, trying to get over her daze.

"I like that you worry…" he smirked, it was strange that she didn't have to picture it now. "But, I'll be fine."

"What if we have to fight?" she asked.

"We don't… were playing defense." he replied simply, laying back down.

"That hasn't exactly worked." she countered.

"Look, let's leave that for tomorrow to worry about, okay cutie?" he said, waving his hand carelessly at her. Though he sounded cocky as ever, she could hear that his breathing was still shallow and could tell he was in a lot of pain.

She decided not to fight it and instead let her fascination with the young man's face take over as he laid down and closed his eyes. She lay down across from him and stared at him until she fell asleep…

…

"Is there anyway we can get a hold of Titans East, or Kole, Argent, Kid Flash… anyone who can help?" Cyborg asked as he watched Robin pace the room from his seat at the coffee table.

"Without our communicators, and your signal needing repair, it wouldn't be easy… and I see no reason to get anyone else in danger until we know what were dealing with…"

"Robin's right, the best way to go about this whole thing is by investigation, because right now these assassins are holding all the cards with all of you separated." Bruce said, sipping his coffee. "Who's to say he doesn't have one the other Titans hostage."

"So what do we do?" Cyborg asked.

"We need to get our hands on one of the assassins and get our hands on who is running this whole procedure." Robin replied.

"In the meantime, I want to get the story straight…" Bruce said, using his remote to access the large plasma screen as a computer monitor and turning on to an image of the Gale Enterprise Warehouse, before its destruction.

"Nine at night, the five of you head to work, average day…" he said moving to the next image from a street camera. "You arrive at almost 9.06... where this criminal is spotted."

The next shot is a blurry image of a man with a skull mask breaking into the building.

"What do you know of this guy?"

The room got quiet for a minute as Robin clenched his fists, and Cyborg turned his head to the side.

"Red X, a common thief." he muttered quietly.

Bruce clicked the remote to security camera footage of Red X braking into the building and fighting off the guards, making his face grew serious.

"He's no common thief… he's skilled… and that tech he has…" Bruce said thoughtfully. "Have you run into him before?"

Robin exchanged looks with Cyborg who just twitched his lip slightly.

Bruce looked back at both of them. "Well?"

"Yeah… that suit he's wearing… I made it." Robin murmured quietly.

"That's not surprising, the tech isn't far off from my own, you're the only person who could have constructed it so closely… how did he steal it?"

Robin gritted his teeth, feeling his fists grip tighter. "I don't know."

Bruce was quiet for a minute again, replaying the attack, over and over. "What gets me is how he is able to use it so well… his fighting technique is nearly flawless."

Robin looked at the screen to his mistake-become-flesh and frowned deeply, none of this would have happened if it weren't for him.

"Could he have anything to do with this?" Bruce asked.

"I don't think so… he is more into self gain, he's not a murderer." Robin replied.

"How are you so sure?" Bruce asked.

"Because, he's saved us when he didn't need to."

…

Starfire turned over as she awoke… moving her dark red hair away from her face. She could feel the aches in her back from sleeping on the floor.

She suddenly became aware that the now mask-less and nameless man who had been asleep about an arms length from her had vanished.

She shot up in surprise and looked around. _Where did he go? _

She stood up and realized the jacket she had been wearing was gone as well. Did he desert her?

Waiting in the silence for a few moments before daring to venture outside, she peeked her head out to see the dark streets clear and silent. She soon grew confident enough to walk out a little ways to look around.

"Little stuffy in there, huh?"

The alien princess jumped and gasped as she spun around to see the grinning face of the thief, he was wearing the large coat he had given here and it covered the rest of his suit. It was still so shocking to see his real face without the mask, it would be hard to get used to.

"You're jumpy." he commented.

"Where were you?" she asked, immediately angry.

"Getting the lay of the land, sweetheart. Relax."

"Your injury..."

"Shh… I know how head over heels you are for me, but you got to stop worrying." He said walking past her with a wink.

She wasn't entirely sure what that meant. Although, she had come to understand most of the strange phrases of Earth, some just alluded her, but she assumed that it had something to do with her being attracted to him.

"Follow me, if were going to keep moving, we need a better way to stay undercover." he said.

She reluctantly followed him a little ways down the street gingerly, feeling exposed in her uniform, thinking that she would be spotted.

The thief stopped in front of a closed department store and pulled out a grappling gun and fired it to the second story. Before she could respond, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her up beside as they both shot up to the ledge.

She pushed away from him, but before she could react, he kicked in the window and hopped in. "C'mon princess."

She frowned, feeling the rising heat beneath her cheeks as jumped down into the building. They were in the clothing department where wracks and wracks of numerous clothes were on display.

"What are we doing here?" she asked him.

"Just picking up a few things… or shopping, as you girls like to call it." he said, walking up to a wrack and looking through it.

"What?" she asked incredulously.

"Our suits are just painting targets on the back of our head at this point, sweetheart. The best chance is to blend in with everyone else." he replied, grabbing a few articles of clothing. "So pick out something."

She stared at him bewildered. "You mean steal something?"

"Unless you have some money to leave at the empty register." he said sarcastically, giving her a smirk.

"I…I can't, its wrong." she said, shuffling uncomfortably.

"Yeah, its wrong to steal clothes to protect yourself from evil assassins." he rolled his eyes. "How many times have you risked your life to protect this city? Don't you think they can spare you some clothes?"

She frowned, knowing he was right and looked through the clothing feeling awful.

"Hey, how about this?" he asked, holding up a piece of revealing black lingerie, trying not to snicker.

She narrowed her eyes and punched his arm making him laugh. "For you maybe." she replied angrily.

"Lighten up, it was just a joke." he said, still snickering.

She gave him a death glare and grabbed a few things before heading to a changing room. With or without that mask he was a smug idiot.

…

He wore something similar to what he usually did off duty: a double layered, hooded black jacket with a grey shirt and jeans. He looked in the mirror and didn't even bother with his mess of hair, even when he was younger it just did what it wanted too. He loaded into his pockets whatever weapons from the suit that he cold and slipped on one of the gloves to his right hand. He took the suit and wrapped it in plastic before hiding it within one of the storage boxes for safe keeping.

He'd miss that thing, he had gotten used to being in it, more than being without it. "Let's go princess." he said impatiently waiting by the window.

He heard the door click from the changing room and turned only to stare at her like, what he assumed was, a total idiot.

She was wearing a pair of jeans with a long pale rose sweater that hugged at her curves and fell just a little above her knees and she had also braided he red-auburn hair in a lose side braid that fell over her shoulder. She looked like that stunning college girl that would turn heads in the assembly halls.

When she met his gaze, he managed to keep his composure and simply whistled at her.

"What?" she asked, sounding offended, but maybe a bit flattered.

"Wow, nothing, normal just looks good on you."

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><p>A little corny... them shopping and whatever... but its kinda cute! So, who is he? What's his name? Uh... if the little tidbit about the crowbar didn't make you figure it out, then you'll just have to wait! Yeah, so I was so tempted to make his eyes green, like how his character's are in a certain animated batman movie, (one of my favorites ever!) but I went with grey because it fits his character better... the whole mix of good and evil and whatever, and I wanted him to clash with Starfire. Sorry this took so long... classes and all. But, Summer is coming so soon! REVIEW if you want more! Must have reviews. I am a little on the fence with how good this chapter is, so tell me!<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry this took so long! My life is so busy! But all the lovely reviews almost made me want to cry! All my readers are so lovely and wonderful so this chapter is dedicated for all of you! I laughed at a couple who said I converted them to Red X and Starfire from RobStar. Since I go back and forth between ships I don't know if I should be proud or ashamed lol! Anyways Enjoy :D

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><p>It was going to rain… she was sure of it. The sky was gray and clouds were heavy.<p>

"So, how do we get over there?" the changeling asked, as they stared miserably at the giant T that stood on the island across from them. The waves were rushing and pulling, the ocean choppy and not inviting.

"I can get us in without being seen… I'll find the mainframe and see if I can fix communications." Raven replied.

"And me?"

"You watch my back."

It grew quiet for a long time between them as no one moved. "I'm not sure about this Raven."

"I'm not either, but we've been outnumbered before...were not going to let them win." the psychic replied, keeping her determined eyes on their shattered home.

"Raven, look if things go wrong in there, I just… I want to tell you that…"

She felt her heart speed up and color rise to her cheeks as her violet eyes met his ivy colored ones.

"I just…I mean…thank you, you know for everything."

She recovered from her near panic attack and resumed her emotionless persona. "Forget it."

…

He watched as the clouds covered the sky and the sun, once again, leaving the city in its current array of grey. They walked amongst the small crowd of people brave enough to be on the street. Cops were seen everywhere, giving him memories of the dark and seedy Gotham city.

He glanced over at the red head beside him, who had been staring at him when she thought he wasn't looking. She awkwardly looked at the ground the minute he caught her staring, pretending she had done no such thing. He smirked in amusement. She may have only been curious, but it still put coals over his burning ego.

"See something you like?" he asked her, he might have said something more sensitive and less cocky, but it really wasn't in his nature.

She only turned her head to look up the dreary sky, but he could see her cheeks flush to a deeper shade.

"Seriously though, why so quiet tonight?" he asked. "Planning on snuffing me out?"

Yep, there it was, the smallest glimmer of a smile on her face. He thought he would never see it.

"Just let me know before you do, so I have a fighting chance." he joked more, hoping to coax in out again.

Her smile broadened a little more and he swore she almost laughed. He was getting somewhere, the idea of him dying at least amused her a bit.

However, with the mask off there was just another wall between them. She had only known the masked villain, not who he was underneath. As ironic as it was it only made things more confusing than before. He found it was his turn to stare at her as she watched the ground as they walked, curiosity only being one of his motivations. She played with her braided hair and kept pulling on her new clothes, obviously not used to them. She was so out of place it was kind of adorable. He smiled and looked on ahead back at the crowd of ordinary people, all the same to him… when an idea came to mind.

"All right princess, I've had it with the silence, let's play a game?" he said.

She stiffened. "No thank you."

"You sure?" he asked, putting an arm around her. "I think you'll like it."

Her face didn't change as she looked up at him. "This is not the time for games, we have to…"

A loud roar of thunder caused her to jump slightly from under him.

"C'mon sweetheart, you really think we'll find them on the streets?" he asked. "Besides its going to rain, and I'm still aching."

She looked up at the sky, then to the crowd that was slowly disappearing to safety, then back to him.

A flash of lightening lit the sky as a downpour crashed unto them. It was freezing rain and caused her cry out slightly.

"Damn, I'm good." he said sarcastically, though he was laughing slightly as he pulled her along under an overhang for shelter.

Although slightly damp, they missed the worst of it. It grew quiet again as they both watched as the rain pour down and hit the pavement rhythmically.

"You must hate how right I am all the time." he joked looking over at her, enjoying her frustrated expression. "Ready for the rules of the game?"

"I do not wish to play any games." she replied, crossing her arms.

"Alright... so the game is simple, I ask you a question and if you answer it honestly, then I will answer anything you ask me, deal?" he said, ignoring her reply and the shocked and annoyed face she was making.

"What if I don't answer?" she asked, trying to not look interested.

"Then you lose your turn and I ask again." he replied.

"What if you lie?"

"I do a lot of things, but I don't lie." he said, taking a seat lazily on the windowsill. "I simply may withhold some info, but that's different."

She looked at him unconvinced, but he could see the curiosity in her eyes as she slowly gave in and sat across from him.

"…Alright I agree to your conditions." she agreed, there was so much she wanted to know.

He smirked, placing his hands behind his head. "Sweet. Let's see hmmm… Favorite color?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You wish to know my favorite color...that is all?"

"Hey, how can you really get to know anyone without knowing their favorite color?" he defended, leaning his head back comfortably, looking as if he was about to take a nap. "Bet you know the boy wonder's favorite color… let me guess his is… blue?"

"Red." she corrected.

"Ah…I thought that was too obvious." the thief smirked. "So, what's yours?"

"If I had to choose...I like all the colors... I think green."

"No kidding? That's mine." the thief said, half halfheartedly.

"No its not." she said, sensing his joke.

"Seriously, it used to be all emo, like black or red, but now it's green."

"Why?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

He lifted his eyes to her and when he didn't respond she finally looked away from the downpour to his gaze. She suddenly became aware that he was noting the color of her emerald eyes and she tried not to shift uncomfortably. It was quiet again before he just smirked and leaned his head back into his hands.

"You can fill in the blanks on that one." he replied. "Okay your turn."

She kept her gaze on him and was happy that he had to answer this question. "What's your name, your real name?"

He looked at her with wide eyes but didn't look surprised. "Well you're just going to dive right in, aren't you?" He sat a little straighter. He looked at her again for a long time. He seemed to be calculating rapidly in his head on what to answer and how to answer it. "It's Jason."

"Jason." she repeated, trying out the sound, it was so strange that he was deemed with such an ordinary earth name. "Jason… what?" she asked.

"You didn't specify last name." he smiled. "I don't have to answer that."

"So, shall I call you Jason?" she asked, hoping for once she could turn his knobs.

It didn't work. "You can call me whatever you want, I can't say I'll necessarily acknowledge you… no one has called me that in a while." he replied looking at her with a look that made her slightly uneasy.

"Okay, my turn…if you had to get rid of someone on your team, who would it be?"

She suddenly looked furious. "What? I could never choose over any of them!"

"Aw come on, who get's under your skin the most, I promise I won't tell." he prodded.

"I would never turn away from a member of my team." she said very stubbornly, crossing her arms.

"Well, okay… is that unanswered or…"

"I would leave myself before I turned out anyone else." she replied.

"That's not a real answer." he said. "But, since you're so cute I'll give you this one… your turn."

She thought for a moment. "Where are you from?"

"Gotham." he replied easily, sounding a little proud.

"Are all your answers going to be so vague?" she asked.

"There is nothing to tell, I grew up in the narrows… its just a pool of crime." he said. "But there was some damn good pretzels on my street."

She didn't laugh at his joke, but stared at him curiously. She had never been to Gotham, but Robin's stories were enough for her to make her shudder at the thought of living down town there.

"Okay… my turn, how long have you and Wonder Boy been a thing?" he asked, a roguish smile on his face.

She knew questions concerning Robin would emerge eventually, but she still found herself a bit uncomfortable bringing him up. As much as she tried to justify her situation, she did feel guilt in the pit of her stomach at the thought of Robin.

"Two years." she replied.

"Wow, long time." he replied. "I usually try to stay more update with you guys, but sadly I've been away."

"Where did you go?"

"Is that your next question?" he asked.

She paused, but then nodded.

"It would be easier to ask where I didn't go… you have to keep moving to get a break when you're on the wrong side of the law."

"It is not easy to enforce the law either." she countered.

He laughed. "Trust me I know."

"You do?"

"Ah ah ah… not your turn." he said. "So when did he stop being a prick and actually make a move?"

Her face went from surprised to angered, but she wasn't about to give him the pleasure of his annoyance for the hundredth time that day. "Do not speak of him like that, he was never…"

"Please princess, you can put him on a pedestal all you want, but I know who I steal from… I could pin down all his problems I'm sure real easy… obsessive, determined, always saying he's fine, doesn't except help, being in charge of a team but always reclusive in a way, pushes you away, can't communicate his feelings worth crap…"

"Stop. You don't know him." she didn't sound as intimidating as she wanted to.

"Tell me I'm wrong… remember, all honesty here."

She glared at him, his words jabbed at her weak points, but only because they were true, word for word. "He's human." she replied.

"So are most people on this planet." he countered.

"Enough, I have answered your question. I do not wish to speak more on it."

"Wow defensive, he's sure a sensitive topic isn't he?"

She didn't respond and looked away.

"Your turn." he whispered loudly.

She took a moment to clear her head, then asked with narrowed eyes. "How did you steal the suit?"

"I broke in and took it."

She could feel her jaw set at his repeated vagueness."But, how did you even know…."

"You don't follow the rules very well do you… one question at a time."

She closed her mouth, frustrated.

He smiled. He couldn't get over how adorable she was annoyed. "Okay…Worst villain you ever faced?"

"Slade." she answered without hesitation.

"Not me?" he pouted jokingly.

She stayed completely serious.

"Really that bad?" he asked, acknowledging the fear in her eyes… he didn't like it.

"Yes, he was. Even in death he managed to do great damage." she replied.

"He makes the job a nightmare, doesn't he?" the thief replied in full understanding.

"What?" she asked.

He shrugged carelessly. "Nothing."

It grew quiet as she remembered it was her turn. She thought for a minute before her eyes, for what seemed to be the hundredth time, fell onto his scars.

"Forgive my forwardness, but who gave you those scars?" she asked, her voice like a whisper. (A/N You all thought of Dark Knight Joker didn't you?)

A darkness crept upon his face again and she could see his left hand twitch. "I don't think you want to hear about that."

"I do." she disagreed, looking at him intently. This was the one thing that broke the wall to his careless, sarcastic thief that he built around himself.

He searched her eyes for a couple minutes. "A monster."

She found herself moving toward him pleadingly. "Is that really all you're going to tell me?"

He sighed, a heavy one. She had no idea that he was capable of such a thing.

"I…"

A clash of lightening interrupted them as she jumped with a small squeal, unintentionally towards the thief and he wrapped his arms around her tight. "Woaw now, just a little lightening." he said, gently.

She was too afraid to let reason or morals come to mind as she hid her face in his shirt from the lightening and thunder. "I…I…" The minute she began to push away from him another one came, making her hunker down again.

"It's okay princess." she felt him whisper in her ear. "Let someone else protect you for once."

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><p>Sorry Bruce, Alfred, Robin, Cyborg, no cameo for you right now! Please Review, I sometimes take a long time to update, but I do read all of your reviews and appriciate them! And Yeah... He's Jason Todd... not that surprising right now, but hey, some people may have not known. Just a reminder, I'm not a 100% following the comic for his background... I'm sorry if people don't like that but, that's how I'm rolling right now. The concept of Red X being Jason is not an unknown theory, in fact its quite popular, so I'm not sure why people don't use it more often for stories and just go with OCs(shrug). Also, I kind of had a geek out moment when I found out about Red Hood and the Outlaws and that Jason and Starfire kind of have a thing going on... I was like "I liked them together before it was cool or canon!"<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

I'm back :) Sorry this took so long! I'm actually working on a novel and I've been rather busy working on it. But, I want to embrace all of you for your wonderful reviews and for you long wait you shall be rewarded :D Enjoy!

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><p>Chapter Seven<p>

"Man, I still don't think splitting up is the best idea." Cyborg told Robin as he settled down in the bed he had been assigned. His dark haired leader and, for the present, bunkmate was already buried at a computer doing what he did best: work obsessively.

"Well, its better than Bruce leaving us here while he goes out to locate the others alone." Robin replied, his fingers clicking away at the keyboard. "Trust me, that was probably his first plan."

"Boy does his method sound familiar." Cyborg muttered. "Look man, this whole mess started with us being driven away from each other, if we split up who knows what will happen."

"Its the most efficient way to get things done, we have three people to locate as well as protecting the city, and bringing down the assassins."

"I know but…" he trailed off as he saw Robin stop typing, he glanced over to see him bowing his head and gritting his teeth.

"Dude, you okay?" he asked.

"Fine." he murmured, keeping his head down.

Cyborg gave his friend a look of disdain, knowing that the young man was taking on all the guilt, anger and blame of the situation upon himself and would not allow anyone to help him bare it.

"Dude, you should get some sleep, you're no use to anyone…"

"I said I'm fine." Robin replied, this time a bit more harshly. "I'll sleep when I find them, okay?"

Cyborg sighed and gave up, some things never changed. "Suit youreself...I'm just telling you what I think Star would say."

Robin felt his throat get dry and spun around to face his team mate, who had already turned over in his bed to end the discussion.

He turned back to the moniter and stared at the screen a long time, before finally allowing himself to stand up and crawl into his bed at the other side of the room. And, for the first time in 72 hours, the boy wonder let himself fall asleep...

_I'll find you… _he thought quietly, closing his eyes.

…

_Careful Raven. _Beastboy thought as she went ahead to scout for any enemies.

She disappeared around the corner and he suddenly heard gun blasts.

…

The thief looked at the gray, blue and purple sky as the storm moved on past the city, only a gentle shower remaining. There was something special about the weather after a storm. It was damp and cool, but there was this sense of beauty that about it. The world was quieter, more peaceful than it had been even before the storm. It left more life than it had taken away.

He glanced down at the red head, who still had her face buried in his shirt and hands still clutching on his jacket. He gently moved a gloved hand through her hair to get her attention.

"It's okay, you can look now." he whispered loudly.

She took a minute, but she finally peeked out from her hiding place, her emerald eyes wide with anxiety.

"Let me get this straight… you fight alien monsters, evil robots, psychotic killers and you're afraid of a thunder storm?" The thief asked, though the idea kind of amused him. It fit her personality perfectly, very naïve and utterly powerful at the same time. She had ignored his comment and he could feel her breathe a sigh of relief against his chest.

"We are all afraid of something." he heard her say. "I'm sure you even know fear deep down."

"Nah sweetheart, you've got nothing to fear if you've got nothing to lose." he replied.

The rain came harder again pouring over the side of the building some of it splashing into the overhang. "I do not wish for that to happen to me." her heard her mumble, her voice small and pitiful.

"It won't." he replied firmly. "They're all fine… you know it, I know it… stop worrying."

It grew quiet again and let his hand move freely through her hair, she stiffened at first, but didn't stop him. She was vulnerable and needed the comfort, and probably was just tired of keeping her walls up. Something told him that she was the baby of Titans; not the weakest obviously, but the one that hurt the most, that needed the most care.

"I cannot stop worrying." she said quietly.

He didn't reply and just sighed, becoming aware of her heartbeat again. It neither fast nor slow, but it was calming one way or the other. It was silent for a good long time as he began to acknowledge the situation for what it was and how much trouble he was getting himself in. He was more involved now than he let himself admit. He hated what was happening, he really hated it. A cool wind blew througj, playing with his messy hair and cooling his heated face. It was almost twenty minutes before he just let his mind speak for itself...

"I was thirteen."

"What?" she asked.

"…when it happened…" he finished. "… I just turned thirteen." He shouldn't have said anything, he really shouldn't have… because now he knew there would be no going back.

She sat slowly upright, her big beautiful eyes focused on him. "My parents had died early in my life and I had been wandering the streets till I was about eight."

He paused and she looked at him expectantly. "Then I got caught up with this crime fighting legend, you might have heard of him, dresses up like a bat and prances around Gotham at night."

Her jaw dropped and eyes got even wider, her face was absolutely priceless.

"What?" he asked with fake shock. "You really think your boyfriend is the only one who ever trained with the Batman?"

"Y…you… it can't be." she said backing away from him slightly. "You mean you…?"

"Oh it gets better… the kid and I, we both have a lot more in common than you think, for I also donned the red suite, tights and cape once upon a time." he said. "Except I think I wore it better."

"You were…"

"Yeah, believe it or not, I was Robin, the boy wonder, young ward to the Batman, once upon a time." he said, with loaded emphasis and mock praise on every word. "You know its kind of pathetic, now that I look back on it."

"How could you have been, surely there wasn't two of you... Robin had never said…"

"Oh golden boy of yours wouldn't have known anything about me, this was a couple years before he was ever acquainted with Batman, I was really just the test run for the concept of the boy wonder." he told her. "And it backfired."

He paused as she tried to grasp what he was telling her, but it was all too much.

"I served under him for about five years," he said. "It was the greatest, most challenging time of my life; I thought I was some pretty tough stuff, thought I was a little invincible. I believed in everything you and all you heroes stand for, truth, justice, etc… but I guess my head was in the clouds because, long story short, I took on a task on my own and ended up locked up in a boiler room with a psychotic, murderous clown."

Her face looked horrified as she put the pieces together.

"You don't mean the..."

"And, as much as it surprised me, no one came around to save me." he said, "I realized, while I was being beaten alive that I was on my own real quick."

"How did you survive?" she asked, almost in tears again.

"He left me alive for the moment, had a bigger plan in mind… probably wanted to push Bats over the edge. I knew the old man would find me eventually, but I didn't want him to, I didn't want to have anything to do with anyone. I dragged myself away and the building exploded a few minutes after. I knew he would have thought I was dead, but I didn't care… I stripped myself of the costume, spent the next eight weeks in a hospital and left Gotham and everything to do with public service behind."

"Did the Batman ever go looking for you?" she asked.

"Bats? At first yeah, he's tough to shake, but he was certain I was gone, enough to get a replacement in less than a year anyway, your current boy wonder." he replied. "Being used to a billionaire lifestyle and all, I took what I wanted, did what I pleased, and by luck I happened to be in town when Robin had his little playing with the dark side moment and practically gift wrapped the Red X suite for me… I really came to steal whatever goodies he had the free time to make, but this…" he said, looking over the glove from the Red X suite, "This was his magnum opus, made thieving a singe and gave me a whole new identity."

Her look turned from pity to disappointment, as he expected. She hadn't seen the light, she was still apart of that self-righteous life of saving the day with the triumph and glory, all of it was an illusion.

"Told you that you didn't want to know." he finished, standing up and adjusting his jacket, facing away from her. It felt strange to share everything like that, he didn't even know why he did, it just felt right. He had absolutely no idea why she was so special compared to all the other pretty faces out there that didn't matter. Probably wasn't his best idea with her boyfriend the current boy in tights, but something deep down told him he could trust her, that she would show compassion. He didn't know why he longed for something so trivial as that, perhaps because he had never met a person so damn innocent and genuine before. However, with the truth out in the open, and he was back in that boiler room, awaiting another blow from a stark piece of metal… waiting for someone who would never come.

He felt her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry." she said quietly.

He shrugged. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, I guess."

"Why did you never go back?" she asked. "You were just a child, were you not lonely?"

"Too angry." he replied. "And when I got over that, I just didn't care."

"You felt abandoned." she said, reading his thoughts, knowing the feeling well.

"Angsty teenagers do even when they have no reason behind it… I'm no exception." he said, turning around to face her. "I'm sure you know the feeling, that perfect boyfriend of yours is like Bats own mini-reflection."

She looked down, leaning against the wall behind her, it was only fair to share what weighed on her heart... besides she might not even have a chance to ever again. With every passing hour, she was feeling more and more hopeless, she didn't even know if she could make it through this. "A part of him always works alone." she replied. "There's been many times we've almost lost him to his...determination."

"Not surprising," the thief replied.

She brought up a hand to her upper left arm, remembering a whole different side Robin, one she hoped she would never see again. "I wasn't always so afraid of storms." she murmured quietly, almost to herself. "But I forgave him and still forgive him, because we are all flawed and you cannot change your mistakes."

"I'm not holding a grudge sweetheart, I just moved on," he said slightly defensive, taking a step towards her. "I don't owe Bats or anyone else anything."

"If you really felt that way, I would not be here." she countered. "You would have left me to die."

He didn't like how the words sat with him... she was pretty damn wise for someone everyone thought was so naive, but sure as hell wasn't going to let her know that. He closed the distance between them. "Just a whim, princess."

"I thought you said you didn't lie." she said, matching his dark grey stare.

"…I blame it on hormones." he said, giving up with a shrug. He could feel his heartbeat faster at their extremely close proximity and could feel the tension of both their extremely emotional state.

"I think its my turn…" he said quietly, placing both hands on the side of her, trapping her against the wall. She immediately began to panic, and felt the color come to her cheeks, but she was far from thinking and far from fighting it.

"If you could be anywhere else right this minute, where would you be?" he asked, he was centimeters away from her face, but still directly looking into her eyes…

_Don't... _was the only thing she thought, and she wasn't sure if she was willing him or herself.

"I…"

Before she could finish, he pressed his lips onto hers, pinning her against the wall with his strong body and wrapping his arms around her waist.

_Nowhere… _

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><p>Before I say anything... , since Chapter One I've warned readers that I'm changing the canon story from the comics a bit about Jason's past... but if you're tuning in the first time or skipping the ANs... I just want you to know, that I do in fact know that Dick Grayson was the first Robin and Jason Todd was the second. I know that Jason really did DIE at the hands of the joker. Being a comic geek especially for Batman and all the Robins I know all that stuff and more, so no need to fill me in on the real story. This is just a different take on the story. Thanks for reading! I hope you liked the outcome, or if you're a huge RobStarRedStar fan you don't whether to be crazy happy or crazy upset and are somewhere in the middle. Poor Robin :( Please tell me how you feel, leave a review! I loves them :D


	8. Chapter 8

Hey all. No, I'm not dead! Enjoy this next, angsty chapter. Sorry for the wait *XD

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><p>The thief pulled the quite shocked princess into his arms, deepening the kiss. <em>Wrong. Stupid. Bad. <em>Were all the things that were running in the back of his mind, but he found he didn't care. Sure, she was going to kill him. Sure, he was more than involved now. Sure, legitimate feelings were emerging for this girl beyond shallow attraction. Sure, this would cause him all sorts of trouble.

And… He'd been fighting too long to care. He just wanted her. He wanted her beauty, innocence, understanding, strength all to himself, if not for just a moment... And why change his motto of: _To hell with it_?

His mouth moved over hers as he almost crushed her to him and she moaned in protest, but did not break away. He didn't let the opportunity pass and pushed her gently against the wall once more.

She could feel her spine tremble and blood pulse through her veins. Her hands, that had come to rest on his chest, gripped tightly unto his jacket, as he kissed the breath right out of her. For a moment, she was in a daze, forgetting where and who she was, what was right or wrong, and how to respond to the situation. She was lost in the kiss and the strong hold of his toned arms and let herself fall into it, kissing him back just as passionately. She moved her arms around his neck and letting her fingers get tangled in his mess of black hair.

He didn't want to stop, because he knew that was when the storm would begin. He held off his need for oxygen a little longer and brought up a hand to the back of her neck, holding her in place. She didn't seem to mind as she moved her hands to cup the side of his face, and let him push her further against the wall, elevating her slightly. To keep her balance she moved her arms around his shoulders as he held her in place. She could hear voices in the back of her mind, but she couldn't make out what they said…

However, rational thinking registered in her mind at last, when she became aware of her need to breathe. She pushed on his shoulders, but found her amazing strength once again repressed by the confusion of the situation. He was reluctant to respond, but soon let her slip back down to earth, his grip on her loosening. After lingering a moment more he pulled away and they both gasped for air, shacking and staring at each other, without a word.

She thought of everything that was appropriate to follow such a thing. Smacking him across the face, cursing him, or flying away. But, she was too lost in his eyes, too overwhelmed by what she was feeling, too ashamed that she had responded to him… it was all too… _much_. She looked down and tried to regain herself, words failing her…

He rested his forehead against hers, utterly winded. He considered himself pretty damn lucky to not have his skull cracked open. He stared at her in awe… He knew in a moment things would crumble, but he didn't care, because for a moment she was his. Wanting to see her eyes, he brought a hand under her chin and raised her to look at him.

At his touch something clicked, she shoved him away lightly, and walked past him. _Robin…_

_What was I doing? _

She felt so ashamed… how could she betray him like that!?

She could feel his eyes on her back, and she hugged herself tightly. "We should... keep moving." she said, still slightly out of breath, but tried to make her voice as cold and uncaring as well.

She heard him laugh, somewhat ruefully, but she refused to turn around.

"We just going to pretend that didn't happen, princess?" the thief asked, feeling a cross between amused and frustrated all at the same time.

She crossed her arms and did not reply.

"Well are we?" he asked as a little more firmly.

"_You _kissed me!" she exclaimed, finally looking at him. "How dare you?"

"Daring is what I am babe, but _you _sure didn't put up much of fight." he remarked. "Any repressed feelings there sweetheart?"

"Of all the arrogant, self-centered, clorbags!" she muttered to herself in her native tongue. "No, absolutely not!"

"Sure about that?" he asked, getting a bit too cocky. "Because the role of faithful girlfriend you keep playing, really wasn't anything I got a few seconds ago."

She clenched her fists. "I am faithful! I didn't know what I was doing."

"Nice excuse." he replied curtly.

"It is not an excuse." she said angrily. "Besides, why would it even matter, your intentions are not sincere."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"Please, you feel nothing for me … I'm just another prize for you to compete against with Robin, just another thing to... steal!" she replied, her tone hard to read, it was both condescending, yet something else… hurt?

"You seem to know a lot about how I feel." he replied sarcastically.

"You said it yourself, you don't owe anybody anything... And you are right." she replied sternly. "You have never said one serious thing to me."

He frowned and turned, slowly stalking up to her.

"Admit it! It is all jokes…"

He cut her off by kissing her again, once again taking the breath right out of her, making her tremble. Forcefully and passionately holding her against him, without any hesitation. It was hardly three seconds, but she could feel her ears ringing, her heart racing; just as before, and this time she had her head on straight and knew a part of her wanted this… wanted him. He pulled away before she could respond, and she looked at him agape, his gaze was deep and passionate and he somehow looked… frustrated, guilty and adoring all at the same time.

"…No, sweetheart its not." he replied. " I like to pretend too, but its not."

She felt her heart beat faster at the way he looked at her. So intensely, so sincerely, it made her grow weak in the knees. No. He wasn't playing. He leaned in again, but she put a hand to his chest, stopping him.

"Please," she began pleadingly, looking up at him. "I love him."

He drew back and she tried to explain her heart, but there were no words. She could not explore these feelings, she couldn't even acknowledge them. He knew this, he understood it, but the hurt was still there. It shouldn't have been, he knew she loved the boy wonder and that he loved her… it was obvious, it shouldn't have made such a blow.

She was the most unattainable girl in existence, with or without Robin. It was inevitable that he would fall for her. He always wanted what he couldn't have, and she was everything he couldn't have.

He met her pleading eyes and decided maybe pretending wasn't so bad after all, maybe the hurt and frustration could just go away. Maybe he could spare himself a little more pain that was sure to follow, if he fought it.

"We should keep moving." his voice sounded careless, as if nothing had even happened.

She nodded sadly in reply.

The rain had passed, but the sky had hues of gray…

…

The changeling transformed into a large gorilla, knocking out the last gunman in the control room. Nearby was the slim form of the half-demon, who was out of breath from the bitter battle with every assassin that guarded the tower. They both forgot themselves and embraced, happy to be alive, and at last having the chance to find their friends.

"We did it." Beastboy said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah, we did." Raven replied, running over to the control panel. "If we can fix this, we'll be able to find everyone!"

As she started to deal with the wirings that she had learned from Cyborg, she suddenly heard steps behind her.

"You people never die… do you?"

* * *

><p>Dun Dun Dunnnnn! Villian appearance coming up? Good Chapter, yes? They kissed! YAY! I liked finally writing some legit emotions and romance between them. Yes, pretending nothing will happen won't be good for Jas and Star, its not like they needed more tension lol. Poor Robin... I had to block him out the whole time, because it made me sad... Don't be too mad at Star, I mean c'mon ladies... I doubt any of us would try fighting off JasonRed X, am I right?... atleast I wouldn't have enough willpower. So review please! And thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

Merry Christmas! I give you a new chapter and hope that I will update sooner in the future!

* * *

><p>Shatter Effect...<p>

"Woaw!"

"What is it?" Cyborg asked, surprised by the boy wonder's sudden outburst.

"My communicator…" Robin replied. "Its on!"

Cyborg accessed the computer built into his arm and was amazed to discover that his was as well. "Mine too, I am getting a call from the tower!"

"Same here." Robin flipped the device open and heard a familiar but static voice.

"_Robin! Anyone! Can you hear me?!"_

"Raven!?" Robin exclaimed. "Where are you?"

"_I'm at the tower." _she replied.

"But, how?" Cyborg asked with shock.

"_Cyborg, you're there too?" _she asked surprised.

"Robin and… uh an old friend found me." Cyborg explained. "How on earth did you get into the tower?"

"_Listen… Beastboy and I broke in, we managed to fight off the guards that were here, and I fixed the signal to our communicators… but we were attacked… those assassins… they have Beastboy." _her usually calm and collected voice broke. _"I can't take them on my own!"_

"We'll pick you up…"

"_Not at the tower… they'll be back…"_

"Right, meet at the airport on Main Street, we'll be there… make a change of clothes as well."

"_I'll be there in less than two minutes." _she replied. _"Who am I looking for." _

"Just meet us at the first gate at the airport, we'll take about eight minutes to get there, so just wait."

"_Is Starfire with you?" _Raven asked quickly.

"No, we've heard nothing from her… I hoped she was with you." Robin replied, his entire form slumped with disappointment.

"…_I'm sure she's alright." _Raven replied, but the tone in her voice showed her worry. _"We'll find both of them."_

The line was then cut dead.

…

Silence ensued between Jason and Starfire, as they walked the streets, somewhat aimlessly. Not one sarcastic comment, not one scolding, not even the slightest bit of dialog. Starfire felt like a stone was in the pit of her stomach and she almost wanted to scream. All of this was so wrong. She was homesick, guilty and missed her friends so much that her heart ached. But, her mind just could not stop wandering to the troubled thief that walked hardly in-sync beside her. The first few blocks she didn't even make an attempt to look at him and kept her eyes on the ground. But, when she got the nerve to look up and meet his handsome face, he look determinedly ahead, a slight scowl on his face.

She should have been angry at him for his actions moments ago, but all she could feel was guilt for pushing him away. She felt her head begin to ache in frustration…_It did not happen! It did not happen! It did not happen! _she screamed in her head over and over again, but she knew very well that it did. All she could do was close her mind on the subject and hopefully it would all be over soon.

Beside her, though looking seemingly careless, Jason did notice the glances that she was stealing from him, and was having quite the inward struggle himself. _Damn it! Don't look at me like that… You want your precious knight and shining armor… You said it yourself…so STOP looking at me with guilt and pity… stop looking like you care._

He had to focus on the task at hand, thinking about her was not helping. He had to think where the boy wonder would be, what his move would be after the explosion. Where ever he landed the other Titans would gather, undoubtedly.

He frowned slightly at the thought of the current boy wonder… the lucky bastard who not only replaced him, but also seemed to have everything he tended to want. Though lucky, the kid was predictable…so much like Bruce that it wasn't funny. He would have hid out, disguised himself in some apartment somewhere, find a radio and listen in on everything. He wouldn't go out in the open, he knew he would solve nothing doing that…

The task now was dangerous, but they had to get the kids attention somehow. A risky move to show that Starfire was alive and still out there. Because, how long had it been, five days? A week? They'd think she was dead at this point. However, he had to do something without putting her in danger… which was difficult. For right now, they would go uptown, a place assassins would not look for their targets… hopefully by then he would have a stable plan.

"…I um…"

_She speaks… _he thought irritably.

"…How much farther?"

"About nine blocks, princess…" he muttered, feeling his own legs cramping. "We'll take a cab at the next light."

"Okay…"

Silent reigned once more. _Why the hell does this bother me so much? _he asked himself as he waved for a cab. He looked beside him to make sure she kept up with him. The yellow car stopped and they both slid in. Her noise scrunched up as she slid in, clearly it was her first time riding a cab. He felt his lips tug downward at the close contact between them. But, she quickly turned her gaze out the window as soon as she was settled.

"Where to?" the driver asked.

He drew a blank… he just wanted to get uptown, he wasn't really thinking of a destination. "Uh, at the corner on Main Street."

The car started to move and he let his gaze wander over to the beauty beside him. _She must miss them…_ he thought to himself. Then he felt jealousy make his stomach turn. _They must miss her. _

"I'm sorry…"

He nearly jumped when he heard her voice, it was very soft, he wondered if she really said something. She looked over at him, her eyes shacking with emotion.

Uncomfortable, he quickly took on his careless role. "What for sweetheart?"

"I… I've been cruel to you, I've given you such trouble… and you are going through all this to help me…"

He tried to keep his expression blank… where was the God-damned mask when he needed it?

"You've been through so much… and now, I've hurt you… haven't I?"

He threw his gaze to his shoes. Now she decided to take down her walls and quit with the whole high-and-mighty, ice-queen act she had been donning. _Enough princess, jeeze… let it go! _

Well, he sure wasn't throwing out his arrogant jackass act so easily. He already had enough blows from this chick.

"Don't worry cutie… it will take a little more than a rejection to hurt me." he said. "Let's just leave it, we'll get you back to your little friends… then you'll go my way and I'll go mine." his voice cracked a little with irritation.

He dared to glance over and saw her expression falter a little.

_What the hell do you want from me?_ "You're right by the way… how the hell could it work out, right?"

She didn't reply, but held his gaze a little longer than necessary and then turned to look back out the window.

It was quiet for a good five minutes.

"…I'm sorry too." he muttered, too quietly for her to hear, looking out his own window. As usual, he had no one to really blame, but himself.

…

Alfred pulled a block away from the airport, though they were at the center of town, the streets were still pretty slim.

"Its been about a day since we've heard any other attacks, hasn't it Master Wayne?"

"They're waiting it out now Alfred, whoever is the brains of the operation sure knows what he's doing." Bruce explained. He sat at the side of the limo, Robin and Cyborg on the other side.

"They're waiting for us to make the first move…" Cyborg said. "Then they'll strike hard."

"Shall I take the car around and pick you up as soon as you've acquired Miss Raven?" Alfred asked.

"Yeah, that will work perfectly, meet right here in about fifteen minutes." Bruce said, opening his car door. "Don't act like children, and stay natural." he added to Cyborg and Robin as they got out on the other side.

They walked toward the airport as Alfred drove away, trying to blend as much as possible. Robin fingered the pistol that was still in his coat pocket, knowing how dangerous this all could be. But, they didn't have time, they needed to find Raven and save Beastboy before it was too late.

As they neared the airport, they came to a street corner, there they noticed a civilian, standing as if waiting for someone, shielding herself beside a phone booth. She had her back turned to the street, but she caught Robin's attention with her long red braid… almost the same shade…

_It couldn't be… _

"Star!?"

* * *

><p>AH! *bites nails*<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

I'm not dead...

* * *

><p>Chapter 10:<p>

"Wait." Jason said suddenly, putting his arm out to stop the redhead in her tracks.

She looked up at him with concern shacking in her eyes. "What is it?"

He was quiet and completely alert, his pupils dilated and his ears perked.

"There's one." he whispered to her. "Don't look, but it's a sniper on the second story of the post-office."

He pulled her along by the elbow and they continued to walk casually and blend in with the other people.

"Listen, go and wait for the crossing light at the next street, and wait there for me, I'll be right back."

"Wait." she said, grabbing his sleeve before he could run off. "Where are you going?"

He turned and looked down at her. "Just wait, I'll be back."

With that, he pulled away and started off toward the sniper, leaving her alone in the crowd. She cursed in Tameranian, frustrated at his brash actions. Still, she made her way toward the light, heat glowing in her cheeks.

The princess waited, watching the vacant void of street where he had left her. Minutes passed and she grew more and more anxious. Hugging herself, she was about to go after him when…

She heard her name.

"Star!"

_Was that… no! It could not be! _

She turned and… there he was!

_Robin? _her mind voiced the failed words on her lips. He was standing there in a leather jacket and black shades, but she would know him anywhere. Beside him she could see Cyborg and another tall, broad man. She stared at him paralyzed from the shock, disbelief and unimaginable joy. For a moment, she could neither hear, breathe, or even think- then he moved toward her, a small step at first before dashing forward, running flat out.

The movement caused an electric jolt within her as she ran as well, her red hair blowing in the wind.

_You're alright! _

_You're here! _

_I have found you! _

She wanted to fly, keeping her feet on the solid ground proved to be quite a difficulty. Robin ran like a mad man toward her and Cyborg was close behind him, but the half-robot's sudden shout of warning caught her off guard.

In a moment, she heard a whistle of an approaching object, desperate arms pulling her roughly to the ground and then the world shook as a missal consumed the street in fire and smoke.

Her ears rang before she could hear the screaming of people and the sound of roaring fire and crumbling debris.

Jason held her like a human shield… had he not stopped her, she would have ran straight into the missal. He stood, coughing against the smoke, and pulled her up with him.

"Robin!" she called into the smoky void of the street.

_Please be alright! _

_Please don't be hurt!_

_Please don't be lost! _

Jason clamped a hand over her mouth. "Quiet!"

It was too late, multiple shots began firing at them, making them retreat behind a car for cover. Jason's face darkened as he pulled handful of gadgets from his pockets, throwing them like boomerangs, taking out the shooters.

He could hear more of them approaching, however. There were too many… far too many.

…

A few feet away, Robin and Cyborg had been thrown off their feet into the hard concrete.

"Robin, Cyborg, back here now!" Bruce called, getting to his feet.

"Not without her!" Robin replied, moving to go find Starfire in the aftershock of the explosion. Cyborg tried to stop him, but the boy wonder was too quick.

"Robin, come back!"

Cyborg moved to follow, but Bruce took his shoulder. "Stay here and try to find Raven, I'll go after him, don't wait, go straight back to my apartment, even if you can't find her."

Cyborg hesitated before nodding and with a look of worry, went in the other direction.

…

Shots began to penetrate the yellow cab the sheltered Jason and Starfire, and the whistle of another missal hurling toward them forced them to move, but the impact came too quickly, sending them flying. Starfire landed roughly into a building and Jason felt his body skid across the black pavement of the road.

He winced in pain as he rolled to a stop on his stomach. He lifted his head to see that he was surrounded by masked gun-wielders. Before he could get back on his feet, glowing green orbs of fire defended him from the attackers as Starfire landed in front to shield him, hardly a scratch on her.

She managed to take down a few, but more of them seemed to pool in out of nowhere. Jason stood and stood back to back with the alien princess, aiming his glove at the circle of attackers. They were severely out-numbered.

"Well, that escalated quickly." he murmured to her.

One of the gunmen fired at red-head, but Jason was quick to stand in front of her to take the shot. It never came however as a wall of dark energy surrounded the thief and the princess like a dome.

"What the hell?" Jason muttered.

"Raven?" Starfire questioned aloud, shocked.

As if in reply, the dome expanded, and like a tsunami, sent the attackers lunging backward into different directions.

"Starfire!" Raven called moving toward them in the swarm of smoke, rising from a round black portal from the ground. "You're alright!"

Before they could reach each other a rain of fire from a machine gun plummeted from above toward Raven forcing her back down into the safety of her portal. The rain spread toward Jason and Starfire, making Jason take out his grappling gun and shoot toward the closest thing he could make out in the smoke, taking Starfire with him as it pulled him out of range.

Before they could land however, a bullet severed the cord of the grappling gun sending them plummeting to the ground. Before Starfire could even think of levitating an electric net flew and wrapped around her painfully, bringing her to hit the sidewalk helplessly, Jason landing a few yards away.

Starfire struggled in her trap, despite the electric surges burning her, as she heard someone approaching. Jason was failing to move and she had to get to him. However, the sound of the approaching steps were fast and light, unlike the attackers.

"Star!" it was Robin.

He appeared out of the smoke, sprinting toward her.

"Robin!" she cried.

He was soon kneeling beside her, taking out a knife to free her from the net. A few eternities later she was freed and Robin kissed her fervently before pulling her into his arms that were shacking slightly.

"I thought you were dead!" he said into her hair.

She could feel tears in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck, but tried to turn head in panic to see Jason, he had not been moving.

The thief groaned. He was fairly sure he cracked a rib. Moving to stand, he saw the princess and her boy wonder back in each other's arms.

_Well, mission accomplished. _He thought miserably.

However her green eyes were on him, filled with worry.

_Don't look at me like that…_

Suddenly Jason went on alert as another figure approached, and felt in his pockets for the nearest weapon.

"Robin!" the voice called, making Jason tense in surprise and anger.

He knew that voice.

Bruce Wayne emerged from the clearing smoke sprinting toward the couple huddled on the street floor. "You two okay?"

Before Jason could back away, he caught Bruce's eye and paused briefly, almost wanting Bruce to see him after all these years.

_He probably won't even recognize me…_

Bruce surveyed him to evaluate him as civilian or terrorist, before his eyes widened in horror and shock.

"Jason?" he asked in disbelief, as if he was seeing a ghost.

The thief swallowed and took a moment to glance at Starfire who's eyes widened as she looked between him and his former mentor. Robin, who had been too preoccupied with Starfire, finally took note of the lone dark-haired man and frowned in confusion.

Jason backed away then, disappearing into the smoke before Bruce could even take a step toward him. Starfire had to stop herself from going after him. Bruce stared blankly before hearing more firing further away, no doubt toward Cyborg or Raven and quickly turned back to Robin and Starfire.

"Do you know who that was?" Bruce asked Starfire, who stared at him with her mouth slightly open, at a loss for words. She glanced at Robin the same question was on his face.

Unsure what to do, or what was right, she followed her first instinct… and surprisingly that was a lie.

"No." she said. "I've never have seen him before.

Bruce met her gaze and she almost wondered if he had seen through her lie, before nodding. "We need to get out of here, come on, both of you."

* * *

><p>I give up on deadlines… they do nothing to help writer's block… but here you are, the story is revived and I am out of the rut I was in trying to continue this. I have also done a lot of revision and I would encourage you to read the story from the beginning if you haven't yet, I have made Starfire more in character and fixed a lot of stupid things and grammar mistakes… Thanks for all the reviews, I see them and I love them! I've been busy and this story was almost deleted because I had no idea where I was going with it, but all the lovely people reading this made me want to save and continue this! So, this is dedicated to all of you.<p>

-Inkling


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